Auctioneers

The most important example of Qing glassware to appear at auction sold for HK$180m (£18m) – the highlight of Sotheby’s recent series in Hong Kong.

Last week’s on-the-premises sale at Athelhampton House in Dorset was a near sell-out with a hammer price of close to £1.2m.

A State Porcelain Factory figure by Natalina Danko (1892-1943) emerged at auction in Grantham earlier this month.

Albrecht Dürer’s medal dedicated to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, is among the most important medals of the Northern Renaissance. As only four are known to commerce, the appearance of one for sale is significant.

Much of Paula Rego’s (b.1935) work is concerned with narrative, as seen in this limited-edition lithograph of a girl reading a book.

Views of processions, pageants and parades tend to attract special interest at auction, such as this view of an Indian procession bid to £6800 in Gloucestershire.

At annual competition hopefuls discover how connecting with bidders will be crucial to their career success

Always popular items, a Georgian lead cistern offered at Summers Place Auctions (25% buyer’s premium) was also rare in being circular. Usually they are rectangular, having stood against a wall connected to downpipes.

Catalogued as ‘witch’ mirrors, this c.1970 pair certainly charmed bidders at Dorchester auction house Duke’s (25% buyer’s premium). The key was the signature Line Vautrin, ROI for the Parisienne designer and decorative artist Line Vautrin (1913-97).

A feast of English and Continental ceramics will be laid on in the Big Apple next week to tempt enthusiasts for classic 18th and 19th century pottery and porcelain from two of the major factories of western Europe.

Nottingham auction house Mellors & Kirk (20% buyer’s premium) added to the cautiously feel-good mood created by some highly successful autumn sales in the provinces when strong private buying brought impressive results across the board.

Graham Greene was a star turn when a second portion of the famed ‘Mystery Fiction’ collections and stock of Otto Penzler, proprietor of Manhattan’s ‘Mysterious Bookshop’, came to auction in New York on September 5.

Made in Gujarat or Sindh in the 18th century, a sandalwood table cabinet profusely inlaid with ivory flowers and tendrils throughout was a fine example of Mughal craftsmanship and led the way at a recent sale at Chiswick Auctions (25% buyer’s premium).

Underpinned by an 81-lot consignment from the estate of the late Fred Sansome, a famous figure in the world of model railways, the Transport Sale at Dreweatts (25% buyer’s premium) was led by scratch-built locomotives by equally revered names.